The Way of Things
by vanguogh
Summary: Lying on his tiny bed, beside litters of comic books, vintage CDs and cassette tapes, breathing in her soft vanilla scent with a tinge of cinnamon, he realized she was the kind person people wrote songs about. [In which Sasuke learns that there are things people can have, but can't keep]. kind of 500 Days of Summer AU with major differences and in high school. sasuhina.
1. Prologue

_**Note:**_ greetings, my friends, I have come with a sasuhina fanfic with which I plan to make a lot of you cry hehe :D or not, I'm just one of those people who cry easily when it comes to television shows, comics, books, movies, bah I'm over sensitive what can I say? I am enjoying writing this story and I hope you enjoy reading as much. I will post an update schedule on my account so stay in tune for that!

oh, I forgot to mention that **this is the prologue** and I would have **chapter One** following it immediately.

 ** _Rec'd Fic/Author for the day:_** _ **Last Link**_ and _**Dormant Daughter of the Silver Moon**_ by **MsChifSantos,** actually _anything_ by MsChifSantos.

 _ **Disclaimers:**_

 **title** comes from the _Justice League Adventures,_ when the Phantom Stranger told Batman, "You believe you can change the way of things, Batman. It is why you are who you are." _**Naruto**_ belongs to Kishimoto; ****500 Days of Summer AU. kinda. it takes place in highschool.****

 **Without further ado, enjoy the short prologue! (I will be posting Chapter One immediately)  
**

* * *

She broke up with him.

He did not understand it. He could not understand it. Could not understand _her_.

He thought he did.

He stopped pacing around the room, feeling it close around him. He plopped himself down on the bed, hoping that this new tactic would allow him to collect his thoughts and finally help him come up with an answer as to _why she fucking broke up with him_. Unfortunately, he found himself as restless and fragmented as he was going about the room like someone who'd suddenly lose their head. His knee bobbed listlessly as his eyes turned to his phone on the desk, vibrating wildly, no doubt numerous missed calls and messages from his friends.

 _But none from her_.

He grabbed it anyway and pressed the home button, finding out that he was right. Stacks of messages from _dumbsonofabitch_ piled on the lock screen, a few from _itachi,_ a missed phone call from _sakura,_ but that was about it. Anger seized him and he found his phone in smithereens near the waste basket. He pocked his knees with his elbows and grabbed his head in between his hands, trying to breathe…breathe…breathe.

Only to find out he barely could.

His heart hammered petulantly, refusing him a moment of peace and he was up again, tugging at his already-messy raven hair. He shouldn't be like this. He wasn't like this. Until _her_.

She broke him far beyond repair.

This was what happened when one opens up their entirety to someone. This was the result of entrusting his whole world into her hands, not caring about the after because he knew she was his forever.

God, he never used to be this corny either.

Suddenly tired and groggy, he plopped down on his bed, shoes and all. His dark eyes roved his trashed room. He had kicked over the neat stack of _X-Men_ comics she had organized. He recalled how she lovingly stroked the covers before placing one on top of the other while explaining to him her indifference when it came to X-men.

She'd scrunched her little nose when he'd shot her argument down and conclude with, _"It's just too much, I think. Too many things going on."_ And then start her passionate tirades on the differences between the _New 52_ era and the _Rebirth_ era of DC, as if they weren't as disoriented.

His chest clenched and he closed his eyes, his nose buried in the blanket, smelling of vanilla and cinnamon.

Just as he gave in to the tempting arms of sleep, his heart and head echoed the source of his pain.

 _Hinata._


	2. Chapter One

_**Note:** _well, here's chapter one. i hope you like it :) im sorry it wasnt as immediate as i wanted. I was under medication and drowsy all day and unable to form coherent sentences. I will say this now, i havent a beta and i apologize for any mistakes.

 _ **disclaimer:**_ Naruto is not mine.

this is _**not**_ an exact AU of **500 Days of Summer** , the build up is much similar to that of the movie's but I've added in my own parts.

* * *

 **Chapter One**

 _Months earlier…_

 _"Because the drugs never work, they're gonna give you a smirk cause they got methods of keeping you clean. They're gonna rip up your heads, your aspiration to shreds, another cog in the murder machine—_

Before the song reached its crescendo, his headset were abruptly pulled out of his ears, startling him from the passing scenery he had been lazily watching for the last minutes. "What the f—," "Sasuke!" he shut his mouth. His mom glared at him as if channeling all her life's regrets into one look before refocusing on the road. "Have you been listening to me at all?" she asked, her voice high-pitchy, her grip around the steering wheel so tight, her knuckles bloomed white.

"Hn."

"Care to repeat?"

Sasuke breathed through his nostrils before catechistically reciting her instructions. "Itachi's picking me up after school for kendo; after kendo, I'm to clean up the garage, my room, vacuum the living room, walk Legolas, and do my homework," he finished "You've said it a million times, I know all right?" he irately added, hanging his headset around his neck. He rested his forehead on the window pane of the car, fiddling with the hem of his muscle tee.

"Yes, and no friends over. No going out either. Remember, you're grounded," his mom added. Sasuke rolled his eyes and opted to not respond. He didn't want to give her the satisfaction of caring. For a while silence filled in the space of the car, save for Mozart's No. 6 Symphony wafting from the car radio, his mother's song of choice for the day. She was a piano teacher, straight from Julliard, as she loved to remind everyone, and one of those old-fashioned people who believed classical music was the epitome of the beauty and sophistication of society while rock music the death of it.

"That is not _true_ music, Sasuke," she would say. "Music is supposed to be art. Beautiful and eloquent. That's nothing but shouting and schismatic instruments. _Classical_ music, on the other hand, is characterized with intricacy and harmony. It is physical beauty musically embodied."

Sasuke could not have been a more antithesis of his mother.

Nonetheless, he was certainly not one to comment on his mom's old fashioned ways considering he owned a Walkman. What teenager owned a Walkman nowadays? He did. By choice too.

The pastel red building of Konoha High came into view and his mom's Falcon crawled to a stop beside the sidewalk and two cars behind the bus dispelling students. Sasuke grabbed the handle of the door to push it open but his mom placed a hand on his arm, momentarily stopping him. He looked at her and she looked back with an apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. You know your father and I hate grounding you but this is for your own good," she said softly. Sasuke refrained from scoffing and rolling his eyes for the umpteenth time.

"Hn."

"I love you okay?"

"…"

She poked his cheek childishly before he playfully swatted her hand away. "I have to go," he muttered and grabbed his backpack from the backseat. He rushed out of the car before his mother could embarrass him further. The roar of the growing crowd of students became background noise as he placed his headset back on, filling his ears with Gerard Way's voice.

 _"'Teenagers scare the living shit out of me! They could care less as long as someone'll bleed so darken your clothes or strike a violent pose, maybe they'll leave you alone but not me!"_

"Sasuke!" a blur of blonde and shocking orange ran past streams of students piling out of the school bus and slung an arm around Sasuke's shoulders, making him scowl. It was too early for his best friend. He hadn't had his cup of coffee yet.

He took out his headset and glared viciously at Naruto. Naruto smiled sheepishly and detracted his arm slowly before folding both behind his head. Sasuke went back to ignoring him and walked fast paced through the metal doors to get to his banged up locker.

"Sasuke, man, wait!"

 _Ignore him,_ Sasuke thought, gritting his teeth as placed the combinations for his locker. He swung his backpack in front of him to place the books he needed for the morning: _geography, geometry, Macbeth, biology_ and slammed it shut before walking off again. Naruto caught up.

"Look, Sasuke, I didn't mean to get you in trouble, you know that right? I'm really sorry—

"Naruto, Sasuke!"

Sasuke twitched. It was definitely too early for Sakura as well. He could feel a migraine coming on as the next loudest person he knew in the world came bounding up in a red Adidas crop top, floral miniskirt, and a pair of Louboutin pumps. She wore a red headband to hold back her pink hair although it was too short to be a bother anymore, unlike last year.

In her arms, she cradled a stack of papers. "I'm going to need to ask you both a favor," she greeted, a sweet smile tugging her glossy lips.

"Anything!"

"No"

Naruto and Sakura both looked at him as if he'd grown a third head. Sakura frowned. She grabbed a paper from the pile and waved it in front of Sasuke.

"Come on, Sasuke, we need to protest Sea World! It is a dire situation in which we need all the support we can get! Think of those poor creatures, imprisoned in tiny aquariums for the sake of entertainment! How can you even live when so many are dying?!"

Damn it. Sakura sure knew how to guilt trip. Sasuke clenched his jaw and grabbed the paper from the smug pinkette's hand before storming off. He'd take it but he didn't have to do jack shit. "Sasuke! Bastard! Hold up!" fortunately, Sakura had dumped the posters and applications in Naruto's hands, leaving him powerless to go after the angst-riddled teenager.

.

.

Sasuke slouched on his seat, doodling Batman pummeling the hell out of Joker with black inked blood splattering all over the margin of his Macbeth book, oblivious to the on-going world around him. He _had_ to get the new issue of Detective Comics right after school. Maybe Itachi would pity him and agree to drive him to FLASH! Comics before dropping him off for kendo.

"Sasuke, answer the question please," Mr. Hatake's drawl managed to cut sharply into his thoughts. Sasuke scowled. Was he kidding? Sasuke pulled off amazing grades in all his classes despite his careless demeanor and the rare off-day he was having, Hatake decided to surprise attack him? Sasuke gripped his pencil tightly, glaring at his teacher.

 _Dick_.

Mr. Hatake chuckled and _tsk_ ed. "Maybe you should be paying attention instead of drawing in class, Sasuke. Hinata—was it? It means 'sunny place' in Japanese, no?—it looks like our brightest young man needs assistance, would you care to provide it?"

Next to him, a girl with pin straight indigo hair snapped her head up, her face taking a red hue. But what surprised him was not the fact that she was wearing some sort of school uniform (complete with a navy blue tie and skirt) but her eyes. They were in the weirdest color Sasuke had ever seen. They were the shade of the lightest lavender, almost white, encased with long, curled, dark lashes.

Like pearls.

Sasuke shook his head and felt his neck growing hot. Hopefully she hadn't caught his staring no matter how blatant it was. He forced himself to face forward, glaring absentmindedly at the white board and trying to appear stoic at the same time.

"U-um…well…I believe that even if the witches h-had foretold Macbeth of future events, it wasn't their fault he had gone the path that he had gone. It was all his and his wife's doing. I also believe that anyone has the right to make a choice. Macbeth chose to listen to his wife's poisonous advice and go mad for power. But I do not blame Lady Macbeth for Macbeth's downfall just as I do not blame Macbeth for Lady Macbeth's downfall. The individual characters' faults all _contributed_ to a greater catastrophe but each mistake led to their own demise."

"I disagree."

Sasuke did not know why he spoke up.

Just that he did.

The girl with moonlike eyes raised both eyebrows. But she did not appear surprised, just curious. Sasuke snickered. As if he'd say anything more, that's all they're getting out of him—

"Oh? Would you care to elaborate?"

Sasuke really wanted to beat the shit out Hatake right now. His teacher was grinning from ear-to-ear although no one would see it under that damned mask, in truth no one knew why he wore it. Mr. Sarutobi jokingly told his geometry class 'Kakashi thinks he looks cool with it. It shouldn't sound foreign to any of you, trying to look cool, I mean, so respect the old man.'

"I believe one's actions constitutes another's. Think of it as a domino effect," Sasuke drawled, leaning back on his chair and folding his arms. "The witches planted the seed by predicting the future with his rising to power, his wife fucked him in the head too. In fact, his wife constantly messes him up. She was a key player in his fucked up life. Think about it. If the witches had left Macbeth alone, he wouldn't have thought of even betraying the king. He wouldn't have had to tell his wife of the prediction and in return she wouldn't have gone batshit crazy."

"But what if she already was," came her quiet voice.

The students' interests were ultimately piqued and so was Kakashi's as they all tuned in on the show down.

Sasuke raised in eyebrow, annoyed at being interrupted once again. He grounded his teeth.

"Enlighten us."

"Well, what if Macbeth did not need the witches' prediction and Lady Macbeth was as you said 'batshit crazy' and did not need her husband's message to come to terms with her scheme of Macbeth becoming king? If people truly want something, no matter how long, no matter the obstacles, they will have it. Lady Macbeth wanted power. Macbeth was already very powerful, collaring many supporters and admiration from many most importantly, the king's. Do you see where I'm heading? "

Then, she gave him a knowing smile.

"Think of the love story of Harley Quinn and Joker for instance."

Sasuke immediately slammed his book shut, covering his doodles.

"T-toxic, wouldn't you say?" she appeared to be blushing and Sasuke didn't want to admit it, but he knew how she felt.

"Dr. Harleen Quinzel started out sane, she was a psychiatrist for Arkham, so normally, she _had_ to be sane. Joker becomes her patient. He turns up the charm and she falls in love. She had to make a choice, to either follow him in the dark or stay in the good side of Gotham. _She_ made that decision, to follow him. And that is how regrets are created, M-Mr. Uchiha."

"He pushed her," Sasuke couldn't help but putting in something.

"He's batshit crazy," she whispered.

Sasuke almost laughed out loud. Luckily before the class could witness such a spectacle, Hatake ended their debate for them. "As much as I love to hear more of today's youth's type of literature, we are running out of time. For assignment—

A collective groan passed the class.

Kakashi glared at all of them before continuing. "For assignment, I want a character sketch of a character of your choice from Macbeth and then write if you agree or disagree with their actions and why and what they could have done better. Dismissed."

Sasuke watched the girl—Hinata—grab her belongings and scurry out of the classroom. He'd never seen her before. She was probably a new student. He shrugged and stuffed his book and pencils inside his bag before sauntering out of the classroom, ignoring his giggling teacher reading his erotic fiction.

They were all used to it by now.

Upon stepping out of the class, his eyes unconsciously followed the long, indigo hair billowing wildly behind the running girl, almost hidden among a sea of blondes, browns, reds (an occasional green, orange, and electric violet). A small smile tugged his lips and he turned to go to his next class.

Getting to geometry was always a hassle, while he kept girls and boys alike from approaching with a lethal glare, he had to get through an entanglement of couples sharing spit, bandmates convening to decide a meeting, jocks passing balls across the hallway, rush hour in Konoha High was at its peak. He pushed past a tall basketball player, guffawing with his teammate across the hall. The player glared, looking belligerent but backed down as soon as he realized who he was.

Everyone remembered the fight between him and Naruto that kicked them out of the soccer team before reconciling.

They really had a destructive relationship, but it was one Sasuke needed considering he needed a constant outlet from his life.

Bemusedly, he noticed half the space on the walls were covered with SEA WORLD? MORE LIKE SEA PRISON! He snickered. He'd have to give Sakura credit for being so determined—or Naruto for being such an idiot.

.

.

"What do you think about me asking Sakura out?"

"Hn."

"Sasuke! Are you still mad at me?! I told you I was sorry, all right? 'sides my mom was pretty fucking pissed too, s'not like you were the only one who got shitted on…"

Sasuke bit his tongue from answering considering he felt childish in the first place for ignoring Naruto, but his pride wouldn't allow him to listen to his good conscience and become buddy-buddy with Naruto again. Maybe he'd let it burn for a while before letting the dumbass off the hook. He sat back, satisfied, and hid his face behind his history textbook.

Naruto scowled before snatching _The Uncanny Avengers_. "Come on, man, stop reading your little comics for a while and talk to me. I know Itachi's come back home—

Sasuke grabbed the comic back from Naruto's hands, if it had ripped he would have ripped out Naruto's head for compensation. "That's none of your fucking business," Sasuke sneered. He really did not want to talk about his perfect older brother crashing back home. Naruto narrowed his eyes and for once lost his playful exterior; then, he softened.

"Sasuke, I'm just looking out for you…"

He spotted the girl from literature sitting alone, staring out the large window and leaving her lunch untouched in front of her. She seemed to be lost to the world. Sasuke raised an eyebrow when she started bobbing her head and smirked upon realizing the wire hidden under the curtain of her dark hair, connected to the inside of her book bag.

She was listening to music.

Sakura immediately blocked his view as she took her place across him. She stabbed a pale pink sausage and glared at it ferociously as if setting it on fire with her green eyes. "Why is penis in today's menu?" she grumbled, placing it back on the tray and pushing the whole thing away before leaning forward to engage Naruto and Sasuke.

"Hey, listen, I've talked to Ms. Tsunade about next week's pep rally and she agreed to have my Sea World campaign for the opening march. What do you think?"

Sasuke propped his elbow on the table, flipping through the pages of _Uncanny Avengers_ in which Rogue and Deadpool along with Elektra were kicking ninja ass in Tokyo. Naruto smiled nervously and scratched the back of his scalp. "That's great, Sakura! I'm happy for you. We'll be cheering you on," he said. Sakura canted back, crossing her arms and legs, bobbing her pump in contemplation. After a few minutes of ruminating, she snapped her fingers.

"I've got it! Why don't the both of you—

"Uh, I gotta go. Coach Gai scheduled a personal try-out for me. Granted it's very late in the season but he really wants me back in the team and the guys agreed," Naruto interrupted, not wanting a repeat of earlier. He jumped up from his seat and heaved his backpack on a shoulder. He casted a glance at his friend who was very much submerged in the fantasy world of anti-heroes and villains.

"You know, Sasuke, if you actually wanted, Coach Gai could schedule a try-out for you as well. You were the Leaf's star player, y'know…"

Sasuke unceremoniously slapped the comic shut and slipped it into the covers of his history book. "No thanks," he answered and noticed the girl was nowhere to be found as he ambled out of the cafeteria.

.

.

The only other class they shared was biology. Ms. Yuuhi asked her to introduce herself to which the girl mumbled and stumbled her words, botching up her introduction. The fighting spirit she possessed during their heated discussion of Macbeth seemed to have left her and she was a shell of who she once was.

Sasuke was piqued.

It'd been a while since he'd had any intelligent conversation let alone arguments.

With a mouse of a girl, at that.

.

.

Breaking Benjamin's "You're so cold, keep your hand in mind. Wise men wonder while strong men die," was interrupted by a loud, insolent _Beeeeeep!_

Sasuke's temple throbbed when he saw his older brother waving a hand, holding a white flag with the ancient feudal clan symbol of the Uchiha out of the window of his sleek Mercedes-Benz. Sasuke breathed through his nostrils. "Bye, Sasuke!" a group of girls parroted as he jogged towards the beeping car. _Damn it, Itachi_ , he thought bitterly, hating the attention accumulating from the students waiting for their rides.

He hated it when his older brother visited.

He hated it when his older brother tries to bond with him.

He really did wish his father would let him drive, since he was already seventeen. He knew he was more than capable of handling a stick shift and an automatic.

But his father believed him to be immature and normally, Sasuke would argue with him, causing a deeper rift in the family. His mom would try her best to settle things down and usually Itachi would get a call from his fancy job in Europe. Wherever that is.

Sasuke didn't care.

He just hated everything his brother stood for in his life. Itachi was that chess piece you try to evade but to no avail because it was already checkmate.

He disposed his bag on the backseat and kicked his legs up on the dashboard.

"Seatbelts, please," Itachi ordered in a sugary tone as if speaking to a child. Sasuke knew Itachi knew he was not in the mood. Itachi knew. He always knew.

Sasuke strapped on his seatbelt albeit begrudgingly and stared out the window while Itachi pulled out and drove off. His fingers were itching to press the play button on his Walkman and drown the silence with Benjamin Burley and the dystopic instrumental background but he promised himself beforehand to behave so that he could get on Itachi's good side, therefore getting his hands on the latest issue of _Detective Comics._

"Sasuke."

 _Shit. Here it comes._

"Father filled me in on the…situation…last weekend with your friends."

"Spit it out," Sasuke snarled, forgetting his good-boy behavior. Itachi gave him a side-glance and sighed. "You got drunk, Sasuke," Itachi said coolly. And the itch from playing music transferred to one of wanting to inflict harm. Particularly towards Itachi. "Do I have to go through a list of why your actions were—how do I put it nicely—fucking stupid?" Sasuke taut his jaw. His brother hardly cussed, it went against his _whole being_ or something like that.

His father probably said something along the same line.

"I worry a lot about you, _otouto_." Sasuke stiffened. Itachi always meant business whenever he called Sasuke 'little brother' in Japanese.

"Tch. You don't need to."

Itachi looked like he wanted to say more but stopped himself before he could push Sasuke further away. He sighed and let silence jam-pack the atmosphere. The two brothers used to be very close when they were younger. Itachi, the citadel of the Uchiha family, the prodigy, the genius, admired by his adorable and curious little brother and whom Itachi loved greatly in return. For a while, no one and nothing was able to separate them. Not the elementary school down the block, not new friends, and least of all, their father; but as Sasuke grew older, he began to realize the barrier that indeed separated him from his older brother.

The attention their father lavished upon his older son was lost in his younger.

Their mother tried to fill in the gap for Sasuke, but it was not enough.

As much as he loved his older brother, he _hated_ living in his overbearing shadow. Itachi was just too high, way up on a pedestal, far from anyone's reach, especially Sasuke's. The little boy did everything he could to stand out in his father's eyes, but it was never praised as much as his older brother's and he soon stopped trying.

The desperate want for appreciation and pride was replaced by the desperate need to get away. Sasuke and his father's relationship began its journey on a rickety bridge. But even then, it seemed nothing could severe his and Itachi's bond but that was soon disproven when Itachi left for Berlin for college and an immediate offer for internship in a renowned firm.

Itachi hardly called and Sasuke didn't try.

It hurt Itachi now to think how much he'd hacked their relationship to pieces.


End file.
